Examination of Laws Allowing Sunscreen Use in Schools in the Context of UV Levels by State

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Adolesc Health
• Personal Author:
  Patterson, Bridget ; Holman, Dawn M. ; Qin, Jin ; Smith, Kimberly ; Zhou, Ying
• Description:
  Purpose: ; Sunscreen use provides ultraviolet radiation (UV) protection but is often limited in school settings because sunscreen is classified as an over-the-counter drug product. Some US states have laws allowing students to carry and self-apply sunscreen. We examined these laws in the context of state UV levels. ; Methods: ; We obtained legislative information through April 2020 from the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association website and UV data for years 2005–2015 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Environmental Public Health Tracking website. ; Results: ; Twenty-three states and District of Columbia have sunscreen laws, including 11 states with UV levels above the median UV level across states. There was no significant association between state UV levels and sunscreen laws. ; Conclusions: ; The presence of state sunscreen legislation has increased but is not associated with UV levels. Future research could examine the implementation and public health effects of these laws.
• Keywords:
  • Skin cancer
  • UV
  • Sunscreen
  • Sun-safety
  • Prevention
  • Schools
  • District of Columbia
  • Humans
  • Schools
  • Sunlight
  More +
• Source:
  J Adolesc Health. 68(2):407-410
• Pubmed ID:
  32693982
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7855391
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  68
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/102158/cdc_102158_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 417.65 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3802aed5a5257df12f019ce75e2afc9ef695e8d6288b3d81bd92c53ab156de6f